Monday, December 24, 2012

BRANDY MILK PUNCH

A popular holiday drink in the days of Delphine Lalaurie
(and still readily available in New Orleans)

Here's how to make your own:

Put three ice cubes in a cocktail shaker.Add 1 ½ oz. of brandy, 4 oz. of milk, a dash
of vanilla and 2 teaspoons of simple sugar. (You can make your own simple sugar
by boiling equal amounts of sugar and water and letting it cool, or you can
skip the simple sugar and substitute 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar).

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

SAD NEWS

Two weeks ago, award-winning author Sandra Humphrey interviewed me on this blog.Today, I received the shocking and tragic news
that Sandra and her husband Brien were killed in a house fire in their Minnesota
home.May they rest in peace and may
perpetual light shine upon them.

Sandra's literary
work touched the lives of many and inspired countless young people. I urge my
followers to look at her blog. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/108747.Sandra_McLeod_Humphrey/blog

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

BLOG HOPPING
THROUGH SOME GREAT BOOKS

For those who are not familiar with a blog hop, it is a lot like a
treasure hunt.One you find something on
one blog, you hop over to the next link for more treasure. In this case, the
treasure is a wealth of new and exciting books. Some are still being written,
some are just being released.Either
way, for book lovers, it is a treasure and I would like to thank author

In this
particular post, I hope to answer 10 questions and you get to learn about one
of two powerful women and the role they played in shaping the history and
legends of New Orleans.

Q & A:

WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR BOOK?L'immortalité: Madame
Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM FOR THE
BOOK?Almost
every day in New Orleans, hundreds of people pay and line up to take walking
tours in order to see the exterior of Madame Delphine Lalaurie's haunted
mansion and to visit the grave of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.A few years ago, I took one of those tours
and I loved the story so much, I wanted to read a book about it when I got
home.That's when I discovered there was
no book.Lots of blurbs on the internet,
chapters in a few books, references in a couple more, but no book that told the
whole history and legend.After I
began writing, two non-fiction history texts were published that covered the
factual history of Delphine Lalaurie (lots of footnotes, genealogy, and documentation).Great stuff if you are a historian, maybe not
if, like the hundreds of people who take the walking tours, you're looking for
suspense and entertainment.

WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?It
blends genres:Historical Fiction and
Horror.On another level, it is an irreverent
meditation on what people will do to persist beyond their earthly lives.

WHICH ACTORS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO PAY YOUR CHARACTERS IN A MOVIE RENDITION?

For Madame Delphine LaLaurie, Courteney Cox and for Marie Laveau,
Zoe Saldana.Sahara Garey would be ideal
for the Lalaurie's runaway slave, Elise.I think Robert Pattinson would make a good Philippe, the sacristan
protagonist in my story.Shaver Ross
could play Bastien, Delphine Lalaurie's driver, and William Shatner should play
Doctor Louis Lalaurie.

WHAT
IS A ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPIS OF YOUR BOOK?

In this historical horror story set in antebellum New
Orleans, a voodoo queen helps an elite slave owner, a cathedral sacristan, and runaway
slave find immortality in ways both macabre and beautiful.

IS YOUR BOOK SELF-PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY?It is published by Nonius LLC Publishing.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT?The first
draft took about 16 months, most of which was spent in doing research,talking to sources, digging through
libraries, and trying to get a feel for what it looked, smelled, and felt like
in New Orleans in the 1830's.It took
another year to finish the story.

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE THIS STORY TO WITHIN YOUR GENRE?

Seth
Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire
Slayer.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK? 27
years ago, I founded a non-profit organization to provide for orphaned children
and I spend most of my time working with our orphanage in Sonora, Mexico.I wanted to find something to do on my free
days that had nothing to do with seeing molested, abused and abandoned
children.I failed.The book recalls the history of horrendous
abuse of enslaved human beings.I credit
the guides at French Quarter Phantoms and Strange True Tours in
New Orleans for giving me the subject matter and my two sons for encouraging me
to write the book.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Writing a Mixed Genre Story

When I first heard
the history and urban legends surrounding Madame
Delphine Lalaurie, I knew I had to write the book.She was a colorful piece of New Orleans
history and it was important to gather as many historical facts about the
woman, the times, the culture and the physical locations as I could.The research took eighteen months (after
which, two very good history books were published that would have saved a great
deal of duplicated efforts if they had come out just a bit sooner.

People pay for tours
and line up every day to see the Lalaurie Mansion, to visit the grave of Marie
Laveau, to walk down Pirates Alley. I knew it was more than just the (sometimes-boring)
historical facts that draw all these daily visitors to see the places where my
story takes place.Nearly two centuries
of urban legend add to the fun, the thrill, the motivation to visit these
historic sites, and if my book was to entertain, the best of that legend needed
to be included.

L'immortalité:
Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen is both historical fiction and
horror…and something else.Fans of
historic fiction tell me that I captured the times, what things looked, smelled
and sounded like in 1833.Horror fans
will find the macabre, a mad scientist torturing people in his attic, the
mystery of voodoo and a smattering of ghosts.A closer look will, I hope, reveal the book as a meditation on the
various ways people seek to persist beyond their mortal lives.Even those who do not believe in the
existence of the soul seek to live on in the minds of others.I believe the real value of the book is in
its reflection on immortality. Let me know what you think.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Annie couldn't
remember when she last felt this good.For years, her legs had been too weak to stand. Even if she could stand, an alarm would go
off.

A cord, clipped to her
gown, ran to a small box fastened to the back of her wheel chair, notifying
Mrs. Thibodaux that Annie had slipped and needed attention.Tonight, for some reason, the alarm cord was
disconnected and Annie knew that she had the strength, knew that she could stand.For the first time in four years, she could
stand again! Once on her feet, the next step was obvious.She would escape through the front door
before anyone noticed.

It wasn't that Mrs. Thibodaux's nursing home
was unpleasant.The meals were small but
decent, the room was clean, and Mrs. Thibodaux was there to count the
medications and assist with sanitary needs.Nevertheless, it was not a licensed nursing home, and Annie knew it. The
three story neoclassical structure on New Orleans' Royal Street was home to
seven elderly women and a sweet old landlady who exchanged their endorsed
Social Security checks for room, board, and minimal personal care.Unlike a real nursing home, there were no
outings, no trips to musical venues or city parks.And that, thought Annie, was the problem.

Annie was surprised
how easy it was to slip out the door unnoticed.She made it no more than half a block down Royal Street when one of the
dozens of mule-drawn carriages that trot tourists around the French Quarter
pulled up next to her.

"Ride, Ma'am?"
asked the handsome young driver.

"I ain't got no
money," said Annie.

"Then this is
your special day," said the driver."I know what you're lookin' to see and tonight your ride is
free."

"Sir, I can't
even give you a tip," smiled Annie.

"And I wouldn't
accept one." said the driver as he helped her into the carriage. "My
name's Gabe," he added.

"They call me
Annie," the old woman replied.

The carriage trotted
just a few blocks down the road before Gabe pulled on the reins and brought his
mules to a halt in front of a club on Bourbon Street.

"I'll be right
back, Annie," Gabe said as he jumped down from the driver's box and dashed
into the club. She wished she could have gone in with him.She could hear the sax and trumpet inside
playing "When the Saints".It
was the most beautiful rendition of the song she had ever heard.

In a flash, Gabe walked
out of the club with an elderly black man that Annie immediately recognized.

"You're Lips Nelson,"
said Annie as the man climbed up next to her in the carriage."I heard you retired, that you had
cancer."

"That's true, ma'am.I just wanted to stop by at the club tonight
to see if the boys would let me sit in for one more set.I tried but I just don't have the wind for
playin' trumpet no more.Lost my lip,
too.Felt like I was going to faint. Then
I my friend Gabe grabbed hold of me.He
used to run a streetcar here in N'awlins before they tore up the tracks.Used to play the trumpet sometimes when he
rolled that old streetcar down the center lane. I'd say he inspired my career."

The mules clopped
their way down Bourbon Street until they suddenly lurched to a stop next to a
young white girl lying face down in the street.Her left cheek rested in a pool of vomit, a mix of stomach acid and
numerous drinks with colorful names like Hurricane and Hand Grenades.Three
other young women who appeared to Annie to be in their early twenties knelt
near their unconscious friend, crying and yelling, "Stacie, Stacie, wake
up".

None of them seemed
to object when Gabe jumped down, picked up Stacie, and placed her in the shotgun
position of the carriage driver's box. Maybe
they are just too drunk themselves, thought Annie.

The jolt of the
carriage as it moved forward and turned down Conti Street seemed to return the
drunken girl to semi-consciousness.Gabe
held on to her with a firm grip as she began to trash about and moan. Her speech was slurred, but Annie thought she
was saying, "It's too hot, too hot."

"Don't be
alarmed", Lips Nelson told Annie. "They
get that way sometimes when they've had too much to drink."The carriage zinged and sagged until the
Gates of St. Louis Cemetery Number One came into sight.

As Gabe's chariot swung
low through the gate, Annie began to remember. She saw her body slumping in her
wheelchair and hearing Mrs. Thibodaux say, "She's having a
stroke."For an instant, she could
see Lips Nelson lying across three chairs in the club, struggling to breathe. Next,
there was a vision of Stacie checking her purse for condoms and snorting a line
of cocaine in some Bourbon Street ladies' room before staggering into the
street.

Annie turned away
from the vision and saw a great number of men, women and children marching
through the cemetery gate. It was the finest second line she had ever seen and
her mother and husband were in it. Inside the gate there was daylight. Gabe's
carriage stopped.

"If you want to
be in that number, you two best be going," said Gabe."I have to take Stacy someplace else."

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Just finished a great book signing trip to New Orleans. Here I am at the Cabildo by the picture of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. I am pleased to announce that French Quarter Phantoms and Strange True Tours, NOLA's two top rated ghost tour companies according to TripAdvisor, are both recommending my book. By the way, I would recommend their walking tours even if they didn't like the book. I have taken serveral tours with both companies over the past few years and simply loved them.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Tucson Author T.R. Heinan will launch the sale of his novel,
L'Immortalité:
Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen, at the Official Arizona Centenial
Authors and Artists Weekend at the haunted
and historic

Gadsden Hotel,

1046 G Avenue, Douglas, Arizona

THUR. OCTOBER 183 PM TO 6 PM

In the heart of NOLA's Haunted French Quarter at the French Quarter
Phantoms Ghost Tour Event,a
pre-Halloween signing will take place at

Sunday, September 30, 2012

ANOTHER NEW ORLEANS GHOST

The ghost of Judge Francois X. Martin:
For ten years, beginning in 1816, Judge Martin lived in a house at 915 Royal Street, just a few blocks from the where the Lalaurie Mansion now stands. It's said that the reclusive Judge Martin lived alone with one male servant. After going blind, he often had to be assisted back home when he lost his way around the French Quarter. Frequent reports suggest that the blind judge still haunts his old Royal Street home, bumping into things at all hours, tampering with the plumbing and opening doors.
The house is now a small B&B, The Cornstalk Hotel, named for its distinctive and well-known fence. The fence came along after Judge Martin entered the spirit world. The legend is that a later owner built the fence for his wife who missed the cornfields of her native Iowa. Another version says it was built for his mistress.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was a guest here when she was inspired to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. These days, guests at the Cornstalk Hotel still report hearing footsteps in empty hallways and say the ghost of the blind judge even bumps into guest's beds at night.
If you are visiting New Orleans, be sure to take a look at the Cornstalk Hotel and the Andrew Jackson Hotel next door, also said to be haunted. The walk down Royal Street to the most haunted house in NOLA, the Lalaurie Mansion.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Introducing the Voodoo Queen

Although dates as early as 1794 appear in some biographies,
Marie Laveau was probably born in 1801.She was a free woman of color, native to New Orleans, who married
Jacques Paris at St. Louis Cathedral.The famed Father Antonio de Sedella (Pere Antoine) celebrated the nuptial
Mass in July 1819 but did not record the marriage in the parish records until
the following month.

We know that Jacques Paris, sometimes called Santiago Paris,
came to Louisiana from Haiti after the Haitian Revolution and that his marriage
to Marie Laveau lasted only about a year before he died. The "Widow
Paris" then became a hairdresser catering to some of the most influential
French Creole women in New Orleans. She soon took up with Christophe Dumesnil
de Glapion, with whom she had many children, most of whom died as children from
the yellow fever and cholera epidemics that plagued New Orleans.It is commonly believed that Marie was buried
in the Glapion family tomb in St. Louis Cemetery #1, although, like most
"facts" about Marie Laveau, the actual location of her tomb remains
in dispute.

Her home on St. Ann Street was demolished at the beginning
of the 20th Century, but a sign marks the approximate spot where it
once stood.Unfortunately, the dates on
the sign are almost certainly incorrect.

She is perhaps best remembered for her snake, named Zombie,
her dancing in Congo Square, her spy-network, and most of all, her Voodoo. Her
St. John's Eve ceremonies at her cabin near Lake Ponchartrain continued to draw
large crowds for years, with as many as 12,000 attending near the end of her
life. She attended daily Mass at St. Louis Cathedral and was instrumental in
introducing various elements of Catholicism to the Louisiana version of Voodoo.

One of her daughters, also named Marie, is often confused
with Marie the First in many accounts of her life.It was reported by the local press that Marie
Laveau died in 1881, but many people reported seeing her in New Orleans after
that date.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

The following was written by the Chicago-based Chief Investigator for Plains Paranormal and will be posted on their website. Right now, they are having some kind of computer glitch, so I am posting it here for them. I have had the opportunity to work with this group in the past and love this account of their investigation at the Lalaurie Mansion. -T.R. Heinan

The LaLaurie Mansion

Unnoticed amongst a comfortably sized crowd, I moved away
from a pre-Mardi-Gras Bourbon Street.Slowly in barely noticeable increments, the buzz of the street lessened
with each stride, but never really ceased. Surprisingly I found myself
virtually alone dwarfed by the growing shadows cast by an unfamiliar
architecture.Each step took me deeper
into the city’s past.Each step grew
more eerie.Each step led me until I
was before a gray monolith standing sentinel on the corner of two French
Quarter streets.This was a domicile that
symbolized the segment of New Orleans history that was characterized as dark,
seedy, and dangerous.For a few silent
moments I stared until I began to feel what this building represented.Reluctant to admit it then and even more so
now, there was an uncomfortable energy that was palpable if you allowed it
in.The tragedy, barbarity, sorrow,
suffering, pain, and despair began to course through my veins flowing unbridled
into my core. A familiar heaviness
reacquainted itself.The hedonistic
levity of Bourbon Street seemed a thousand miles despite the fact that the glow
of the neon still a few short blocks away pulsed into the nighttime sky
illuminating it with a pinkish-orange glow.And while the allure of Bourbon Street still called, the gravity of the
LaLaurie Mansion held me firmly in place before it.

In a city known for hot spots, the LaLaurie Mansion is
perhaps the city’s hottest paranormal spot.Dating back almost 200 years, the LaLaurie Mansion is believed the most
haunted location in a city where the spirits are fueled by a rich, yet often dark
history.Located in the incomparable
French Quarter of New Orleans, the past is almost palpable.The Lalaurie Mansion stands on the corner of
Governor Nicholls (formerly known as Hospital) and Royal, anchoring the city’s
historic seedy underbelly to the present. While the house changes owners at an
unusually high rate, the constant is an array of ghosts according to multiple
accounts.

The source of these ghostly accounts is almost too horrific
to bear repeating.The principals were
Delphine LaLaurie, a rumored black widow-type, and her third husband, Dr.
Leonard Louis Nicolas LaLaurie, central members of the New Orleans social
elite.Lavish parties for society
members were hosted by the LaLauries and catered by Negro slaves, a practice
common to the antebellum South.But the
sadistic events contained within those thick walls were hidden under the noses
of party goers and would have remained hidden had it not been for a kitchen
fire on April 10, 1834.After initial
attempts to extinguish the flames failed, the fire spread as the firefighters
arrived.The fire was eventually brought
under control.The subsequent inspection
of the premises produced a locked attic door.Concerned that uppermost floor contained remnants of the blaze, the men
broke the door where they were immediately met by the pungent smell of
death.Entering the room, the rescuers
found a dozen bodies of slaves shackled to the wall.Some were dead while others were clung to
life.But the situation was much more
horrific than the confinement and mistreatment of the human beings.Making
the scene even more barbaric was the fact that crude medical experiments had been
performed on the slaves. Even more dramatically, as a vengeful crowd assembled
rapidly seeking instant justice, a black carriage burst through the mansion
gates escorting the LaLaurie’s to a momentary safety.Their actual destination and fate remains a
mystery.

The house became a vile reminder to its horrific past.As a result, the house remained empty for
years falling into disrepair.Instantly
stories of ghostly apparitions were spotted.A white woman with a whip patrolled the above floors.A blood soaked man was seen appearing in the
attic windows.Mangled slaves were
spotted making their way through the mansion.Their screams were audible to those below.Later a wave of Italian immigrants moved into
the neighborhood and occupied the house en masse.Animals were reported to have been mutilated
and butchered in and around the house. Children even claimed to have been
attacked by a woman in white brandishing a bullwhip.Now the mansion has been restored and divided
into upscale residences.Work continues
on the mansion to this day.

So on that still spring Thursday and a similar Saturday, I
was able to conduct an investigation of the building.After review the recordings made from those
evenings, nothing paranormal was discovered.There were also no anomalous EMF fields detected.No EVP’s were recorded. And other than the aforementioned heaviness
and emotionally charged atmosphere of the mansion, I experienced nothing that I
would describe as paranormal.

However, there were some interesting visually anomalies that
were captured on camera.On Thursday
night, I snapped a few dozen photos of the LaLaurie Mansion and nothing seemed
askew in the photos.During my investigation
Saturday night, I began to notice orbs appearing in the photos displayed on the
digital viewer on the back of the camera.Unfortunately, after the investigation I uncharacteristically lost my
camera while transferring into a cab.It was unfortunate because I was really intrigued by the orb activity
that I was witnessing.This was
especially true considering that I witnessed no such activity the night
before.I know that orbs can be
misidentified and are often unreliable, but I felt pretty confident in what I
was witnessing.Then what was very
interesting to me was when I viewed some similar photos that were taken by
another researcher the night before at the LaLaurie Mansion.In the photos were some typical orbs
captured which seemed to validate my experience.In that collection of photos there was
perhaps one of the most impressive photos of an orb as I have ever seen.It had the impression of an energy filled
blue-cat’s eye marble.It was
stunning.According to the person who
had taken the photo, some locals seem to verify our experiences by stating that
orb activity at the LaLaurie Mansion was relatively common.They even were able to make claims about the
best nights of the week to view them as well as the best time of the night.

While I would have liked to been able to have produced more
evidence during my visit to the LaLaurie Mansion, I was impressed with the orb
activity that I was able to witness.The
energy produced by those tragic, sadistic events fueled the orbs that were
witnessed as well as dark emotions that linger around that mansion.The emotive force that emanates from the
mansion is also equally impressive.It
is clear to see why the LaLaurie Mansion is rumored to be possibly the most
haunted house not only in New Orleans, but America.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

HOW MANY SLAVES?

Another question from
a fan:

J.C. of Mamaroneck, New York writes:A tour guild told me that 127 slaves died in
the fire at the Lalaurie Mansion.Is
this true?

A fire broke out on April 10, 1834 at 1140 Royal Street
revealing a number of slaves who had been malnourished and mistreated.The best historical record seems to indicate
that seven such slaves were found in the upper level of the kitchen annex.Madame Lalaurie appears to have owned about
40 slaves during her lifetime.The
condition of the seven who were rescued was enough to seal the Lalauries'
reputation as "monsters" when over 2,000 people showed up at the
Cabildo in New Orleans to view the victims and see if the local newspaper reports were true.I don't give a number in my book, but like
the urban legend that suggests more than seven.On the other hand, 127 is ridiculous.

Monday, August 20, 2012

One of the things that led me to write this story is that it
deals with a time when the two most influential people in New Orleans were both
women.Because of their social influence
and the fact that they lived within walking distance of each other, there can
be little doubt that each was well aware of the other.On the other hand, at that time it would have been most
unlikely that a woman of Delphine Lalaurie's social standing in the French
Creole community would associate with a free woman of color such as Marie
Laveau.Still, the fictional connections
in my book are not entirely impossible.The fun part of historical fiction is the "what if "factor and my goal is to entertain.

TB in Arizona asks:Most accounts I have read say that Delphine Lalaurie was killed by a
wild boar in France. Is that what
happens in your book?

The jury is still out as to the date, place and manner of
Madame Lalaurie's death, but there is some evidence to indicate that she may
have returned to New Orleans and died in her bed.I won't reveal what happens to her in my
book, but telling fans of this legend that she just died in her bed is, to me,
a bit like standing in Macy's at Christmas time and telling kids there is no
Santa Claus.

RJ in Louisiana said:I had a chance to read an advance copy and on the second read, I
discovered that your story appears to be written on multiple levels.Am I right?

Well, that is at least is what I tried to accomplish.On the surface, it is a new spin on an old
horror legend.It is also a meditation
on the question of life after death as witnessed by a man whose mother's rosary
beads serve as an uncut umbilical cord that prevents him from maturing
spiritually.I have a personal hang-up
about how some writers tend to overuse the word "turn" and so there
are only two "turns "in my book. One is when my protagonist "turns"
into Pirates Alley at the beginning of the story and the other when he
"turns" out of it as he reaches the final plot point.Pirates Alley becomes his "yellow brick
road" as he moves through the various "monomyth" steps of his
hero's journey.A clue to this is that he
lives in a yellow brick house (which in the real world is located about where
the yellow brick building that once was home to William Faulkner now stands).Since my protagonist is a bookworm, I think
he would have liked that touch. The occasions when he offers bread, and later
wine, to a runaway slave also have symbolic significance in the story.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

FIVE
AUTHORS I'D LIKE TO MEET IN PERSON:

G. Bernard Ray, author of The
Final Shortcut

G.
Bernard Ray is, like me, an avid traveler and has spent time living in both
Mexico and the Caribbean (places where I do mission work for orphaned
children).We also share an interest in
writing horror fiction.His novel, The
Final Shortcuttells of a
federal agent who stumbles upon evidence leading to a psychotic serial killer
in Kentucky's Bluegrass Mountains. He doesn't
shy away from the gruesome when it adds to the story and shares my enjoyment of
horror told in a cinematic style. Ray
good bet if you are looking for a thriller.

Juanima Hiatt, author of The
Invisible Storm

In the realm of non-fiction,
Juanima Hiatt courageously reveals the pain of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) in her powerful memoirThe Invisible Storm.A victim of multiple rapes and abuse as a
child, Hiatt breaks her
silence in hopes that this work will help others discover freedom beyond their
pain.I am sharing her book with the
staff at my orphanage in Mexico where we see versions of this story all too
often.

Brenda
Sorrels, author ofThe Bachelor Farmers

Set in
Northern Minnesota in the winter of 1919, The Bachelor Farmers tells a story
of two Norwegian brothers who learn the meaning of love after one of them hires
an Ojibwa woman to help them and falls in love.Brenda captures the reality of a Minnesota blizzard (I've experienced
many as a native Minnesotan) and she artfully explores the world of immigrants
and the complexity of relationships, themes that are important to me.

Deanna Lynn Sletten author of Sara's
Promise (and more)

Deannalives near my old home in
Northern Minnesota andis an author who writes "women's
fiction"(but I suspect a fair number of men will enjoy her work, as well).
Deanna's books include, "Widow, Virgin,
Whore", "Memories",
and "Outlaw
Heroes", a fiction adventure novel
for kids ages 10 & up. Deanna's next novel, "Sara's Promise", will be available in December 2012.

Kenneth
Weene author of Tales From the Dew Drop Inn(and more)

My fellow Arizonan, Ken Weene, wrote Tales From the Dew Drop Inn with a dark humor and irreverent style that is right up my
alley. His talents as a playwright, poet
and novelist are increasingly celebrated here in the Grand Canyon State and do
to his proximity to me; this is one author I may actually get to meet someday.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Cloaked in the genres of horror and historical fiction, L'immortalité:
Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen is a meditation on the different paths
people take in search of immortality – life after death.

My story begins in a cemetery, yet opens with the words,
"New Orleans was coming alive".By the tenth paragraph, a tourist on Bourbon Street is singing along as
a band plays When the Saints. "I
want to be in that number."

The theme of the near universal desire to "be in that
number", to live after we die, continues when my protagonist, Philippe
Bertrand, meets Elise, the runaway slave he will help to rescue.Her first words to him are, "I don't
want to die".

As the book continues, using carefully researched historical details
and the best of urban legend, it reveals Bertrand, Elise, Madame Delphine Lalaurie
and physician husband each seeking immortality in varied, sometimes comedic,
ways.Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau assists as she
fights her own battle with the question of life after death. Their paths intersect on Royal Street at New Orleans' most haunted house, the Lalaurie Mansion.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Writers, have you ever used a McGuffin in your story?

A McGuffin is a plot device used in fiction. It is something, a motivator, usually an object that is desired and sought after by the story's characters. In itself, it usually has no intrinsic value, but it represents some goal related to the theme of the story. Characters go to great length to pursue the McGuffin, yet there is seldom much narrative explanation about what makes it so desirable. The McGuffin's specific nature is typically left open to interpretation.

The use of a McGuffin is common in film. Hitchcock popularized the term and often used the technique. George Lucas described it as the story's driving force. A McGuffin can also be used in literature. It tends to play a more important role early in the story and often, but not always, shows up again at the climax.

In L'Immortalite: Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen, the McGuffin is a blue velvet voodoo gris gris bag containing a small piece of bone from the jaw of a pig. In itself, it has no value, but it represents immortality - life after death - the driving force for each of my characters.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

TAKE A BREAK FROM GHOSTHUNTING

A few more favorite spots in and New Orleans' French Quarter

Last week I wrote about my favorite haunted places in
NOLA.Here are a few other spots that
may not be haunted, but which haunt my memories because of their superior
quality and service.

SEAFOOD:

When I was first inspired to write L'immortalité,
Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen, Anderson Cooper was in New Orleans
covering the oil spill.Night after night,
he would remind viewers that the seafood in NOLA was safe and delicious.It still is.If you like oysters, stop in at the Desire
Oyster Bar at the Royal Sonesta
Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street for some of the best.Across the street at 739 Conti Street, Oceana Restaurant
serves great seafood, delicious turtle soup, and even gator tail bites.

If you want to see
gators rather than eat them, look at Hollywood artist John Weston's
illustration in my book or for the real thing, call Cajun Encounters Tour Co at 1-866-928-6877
for an "as seen on TV" swamp tour.

FRESH PASTRIES:

Visit Antoine' Annex
at 513 Royal Street.This place has good coffee, too. Good
walking tours start next to this place.

STEAK:

Probably the best steak I ever had was at
Dickie Brennan's at 716 Iberville Street.My personal experience here was great food
and fantastic service.I wish that
whoever trains the staff would visit every other restaurant in America and
train them the same way.

COLDDRINKS:

To enjoy the music that made New Orleans, Maison Bourbon at 641 Bourbon Street offers live
jazz that is a refreshing change from the otherwise uninspired and
uninspiring music found on Bourbon Street.Decent drinks at a decent price.

For that old French
Provincial feeling and, during the day, a light bite to eat with your drink,
try Flanagan's Pub at 625 St Philip
Street.Open 24 hours. Good walking tours start from here.

To beat the heat, visit Harrah's
New Orleans at 228 Poydras Street.The refrigerated mug well that runs the
length of the bar will keep your beer cold as long as you are there.Judge Jean Canonge, a historic character in
my book who enjoyed gaming, would have loved this place.

No
consideration was offered or accepted for inclusion on this list.There are many other great places to visit in
New Olean's and this unsolicited list merely reflects the personal opinion of
the author.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Ten Haunted Spots in New
Orleans:

From T.R. Heinan,
author of L'immortalité: Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen

One of the great things about reading (or
writing) historical fiction likeL'immortalitéis being able to actually visit many of the
locations mentioned in the story. New Orleans,
Louisiana has been called the most haunted city in America, so this list is
hardly comprehensive but here are 10 of my favorite haunted spots in the Crescent
City:

1.The Lalaurie Mansion , 1140 Royal Street

The former home of Delphine Lalaurie is known
in New Orleans simply as the haunted
house.Stories of hauntings began almost
immediately after the house caught fire on April 10, 1834.The property is privately owned, so it's
unlikely that you will get inside, but reports of full body apparitions on the gallery,
ghost photos in the windows and the sounds of chains and screams have all been
reported.I captured some interesting
orbs the first time I photographed the mansion and was told that Thursday
nights are best for photographers seeking orbs. The best way to see the mansion is to
take one of the many walking tours available in the French Quarter.

2.The Cornstalk Hotel, 915 Royal Street

Also on Royal Street, not far from the
Lalaurie Mansion, is the former home of Judge Francois X. Martin.Judge Martin lived there before the
well-known cornstalk fence was constructed. He went blind during the ten years
that he resided with his servant at this address. Guy Bertrand, one of the
characters in L'immortalité meditates
on Judge Martin's blindness before encountering the ghosts of two slaves at the
Lalaurie Mansion.Some visitors to the
hotel claim that the old judge still stumbles around the place, knocking things
over late at night. It is also said that Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired to
write Uncle Tom's Cabin while
visiting this house.

3.Pirates
Alley

Located between St. Louis Cathedral and the
Cabildo, Pirates Alley is home to my protagonist,Philippe
Bertrand. If, at night, you hear an
angelic spirit voice singing the Kyrie in Pirates Alleyand nobody seems to be around, you may have
encountered the ghost of Pere Dagobert whoserved as pastor of the church beginning in
1745.Reports of his spirit singing the
Kyrie here are probably the oldest ghost
story in New Orleans.

4.St. Louis
Cemetery #1

Recently named the most haunted cemetery in America in an on-line poll, it
is here that mystory begins with the line,
"New Orleans was coming alive". This is where you will find the tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau
(and a couple of other tombs often mistaken for hers). Please donot
mark the tomb with an X.It is illegal
and considered vandalism.

5.Congo Square

Adjacent to and part of Louis
Armstrong Park, Congo Square sits on land that was once considered sacred by the
Houmas Indians.Later it was the site
used by a "whites only" circus.Its musical renown traces to
the Sunday dance gatherings of free people of color and black slaves in the 19th
century.It was here that Marie Laveau
danced with her snake, Zombie, and here that she transformed
the nature of voodoo in New Orleans. There
are some who say that the ghost of composer and pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk
haunts the area outside the gate to Congo Square. As a boy he often
visited Congo Square during the very years that my story takes place.

6.1020 St. Ann Street

Not far from Congo Square is the spot where
Marie Laveau's house used to stand.He rhome is long gone, but a plaque on the cottage at 1020-1022 St. Ann Street
marks the location.According to the
plaque, the Voodoo Queen began living there in 1839.I believe this is incorrect.Martha Ward, in her carefully researched
book, Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of
Marie Laveau, states as "historic fact" that Marie Laveau moved
to this address in 1832.For at least 80
years now, there have been reports of Marie Laveau sightings in the vicinity of
this house.One tour guide I met even claims
she showed up on one of his tours.

7.Pat
O'Brien's, 718 St PeterI
launch my story with a tourist spilling a Hurricane drink.We can assume that he bought a go-cup at
Pat O'Brien's, home of the original world famous Hurricane. During my many
visits to at O'Brien's over the past thirty years I have
heard numerous reports of cold spots and strange sounds in the piano bar and
a spirit that moves items about in the courtyard. Supposedly thereis also a ghost that haunts the Ladies Room. (Sorry, no first-hand knowledge about that
one.)

8.May Baily's at the Dauphine Orleans Hotel,
415 Dauphine StreetPhilippe Bertrand, the
protagonist in my story is a bibliophile who always wears white suites. Icreated
him that way before I discovered that a male ghost who wears white supposedly
likes to knock books off the shelves
of the little library in May Baily's.During my visit in January thisyear, there was much discussion amongst the
patrons about a full-body apparition that they saidtook place on the doorsteps of the bar a week earlier.It can't be Philippe; he's fictional, butperhaps it's the ghost of John James Audubon who
painted many of his bird pictures in what is now the hotel meeting room.A couple of the rooms at the Dauphine Orleans
are also said to behaunted by a black man named
George, ladies of the evening, and civil war soldiers.

9.Café Du Monde, 1039 Decatur Street.

In my book, everything goes
haywire for Philippe Bertrand after he refuses a beignet but acceptsan invitation
for coffee at the Lalaurie Mansion.For
a safer and more satisfying way to enjoybeignets and coffee, Café du
Monde is the place. Nothing says
NOLA history better than Café DuMondewhere
they've been serving delicious coffee and beignets since 1862. Legend has it
that a ghost sometimes waits on tables. It must be a
phantom who likes chicory in its coffee and powdered sugar on its shirt.

10.Brennan's, 417 Royal Street

Philippe Bertrand's drink of choice
was Brandy Milk Punch, which was quite popular in his time. You can still enjoy this 19th
century favorite at Brennan's, as well as their famous creation, Bananas Foster.Reserve in advance for Breakfast at Brennan's
to celebrate any specialoccasion.I plan to go there to celebrate the publication of L'immortalité.In the Red
Room ofBrennan's there have been reports of strange
sounds, footsteps, flickering lights and sightings of a ghostly figure.It could be the ghost of a boy who once lived
at this address (and who later killedimself at the Cornstalk Hotel) or might have
something to do with a murder-suicide that is said to have happened here
back when Abe Lincoln was president.

Walking Tours

Probably the best way to visit the first four places on this list is to
talk one or more of the many great walking tours available in New Orleans. Some
of the best are offered by Strange True
Tours 504-258-0760 and French
Quarter Phantoms 504-666-8300.

Don't Make Marie Laveau Angry

Please keep in mind that most of these haunted places are private
property.Don't trespass, litter or create
disturbances, and please respect places of national heritage and sacred
spaces.Remember that spirits and
spirits don't mix. Enjoy, but don't
spoil things for others.

No consideration was offered or accepted for inclusion on this list.There are many, many other great places to
visit in New Orleans and this unsolicited list merely reflects the personal
opinion of the author.